The 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

[cmlean]

This is the place to discuss everything related to the 1st round of the 2024 season taking place in Bahrain between the 29th of February and 2nd of March.

The event timetable for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Thursday
1st Practice 14:30 local time - 11:30 GMT
2nd Practice 18:00 local time - 15:00 GMT

Friday
Practice 15:30 local time - 12:30 GMT
Qualifying 19:00 local time - 16:00 GMT

Saturday
Race 18:00 local time - 15:00 GMT

[cmlean]

Well, the 2024 season is almost upon us. Following the 24 hours of testing at this circuit over the past week, it is time for the teams to show what they have.
My opinion after the testing is that Red Bull will still be the team to beat. They haven't done anything overly spectacular but, out of the box, the RB20 has been on the pace. It may not be as dominant as in 2023 but it will be close.
Next best would have to be something like Mercedes and Ferrari. Ferrari on long runs have been competitive and Mercedes are in the ball park. With Carlos Sainz driving for his F1 career and Lewis Hamilton trying to go out with a bang, I am anticipating this pointy end of the field battle to be a highlight of the season. That and the contracted remaining team drivers showing that they deserve their places for 2025.
Possibly next will be the battle between Aston Martin and McLaren. Both are playing down their chances for 2024. My gut tells me that McLaren with particularly Lando Norris will come out on top of this battle. They have a stronger lineup pairing than the Aston Martin duo.
Now comes the hard part. Possibly the RB, read AlphaTauri, are ahead of the game, but only just. Sauber, maybe Williams then possibly Alpine will fill the next positions with Haas holding up the rear.
I do hope that I am wrong, I have been many times before, but I am looking forward to the imminent start of the Grand Prix season.

The season commences Thursday, a full 24 hours ahead of normal, for this and the next event in Saudi Arabia. Don't get caught out!

[cmlean]

FP1 Results

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:32.869	Daniel Ricciardo  RB
2	1:32.901	Lando Norris	  McLaren
3	1:33.113	Oscar Piastri	  McLaren
4	1:33.183	Yuki Tsunoda	  RB
5	1:33.193	Fernando Alonso	  Aston Martin
6	1:33.238	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
7	1:33.251	George Russell	  Mercedes
8	1:33.268	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
9	1:33.302	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
10	1:33.354	Valtteri Bottas	  Sauber
11	1:33.385	Carlos Sainz	  Ferrari
12	1:33.413	Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing
13	1:33.583	Alexander Albon	  Williams
14	1:33.868	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin
15	1:33.923	Zhou Guanyu	  Sauber
16	1:34.213	Logan Sargeant	  Williams
17	1:34.807	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine
18	1:35.144	Pierre Gasly	  Alpine
19	1:37.477	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
20	1:37.938	Nico Hulkenberg	  Haas

[cmlean]

FP3 Results

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:30.824	Carlos Sainz	  Ferrari
2	1:30.965	Fernando Alonso	  Aston Martin
3	1:31.062	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
4	1:31.094	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
5	1:31.118	Lando Norris	  McLaren
6	1:31.190	George Russell	  Mercedes
7	1:31.210	Oscar Piastri	  McLaren
8	1:31.248	Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing
9	1:31.278	Nico Hulkenberg	  Haas
10	1:31.396	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin
11	1:31.449	Daniel Ricciardo  RB
12	1:31.452	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
13	1:31.631	Yuki Tsunoda	  RB
14	1:31.671	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
15	1:31.965	Alexander Albon	  Williams
16	1:32.000	Zhou Guanyu	  Sauber
17	1:32.096	Valtteri Bottas	  Sauber
18	1:32.124	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine
19	1:32.125	Logan Sargeant	  Williams
20	1:32.382	Pierre Gasly	  Alpine

[cmlean]

Qualifying

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:29.179	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
2	1:29.407	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
3	1:29.485	George Russell	  Mercedes
4	1:29.507	Carlos Sainz	  Ferrari
5	1:29.537	Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing
6	1:29.542	Fernando Alonso	  Aston Martin
7	1:29.614	Lando Norris	  McLaren
8	1:29.683	Oscar Piastri	  McLaren
9	1:29.710	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
10	1:30.502	Nico Hulkenberg	  Haas
____________________________________________________________
11	1:30.129	Yuki Tsunoda	  RB 
12	1:30.200	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin
13	1:30.221	Alexander Albon	  Williams
14	1:30.278	Daniel Ricciardo  RB
15	1:30.529	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
____________________________________________________________
16	1:30.756	Valtteri Bottas	  Sauber
17	1:30.757	Zhou Guanyu	  Sauber
18	1:30.770	Logan Sargeant	  Williams
19	1:30.793	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine
20	1:30.948	Pierre Gasly	  Alpine

[cmlean]

Race

Code: Select all

Pos	Driver		  Team
1	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
2	Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing
3	Carlos Sainz	  Ferrari
4	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
5	George Russell	  Mercedes
6	Lando Norris	  McLaren
7	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
8	Oscar Piastri	  McLaren
9	Fernando Alonso	  Aston Martin
10	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin
11	Zhou Guanyu	  Sauber
12	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
13	Daniel Ricciardo  RB
14	Yuki Tsunoda	  RB
15	Alexander Albon	  Williams
16	Nico Hulkenberg	  Haas
17	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine
18	Pierre Gasly	  Alpine
19	Valtteri Bottas	  Sauber
20	Logan Sargeant	  Williams

Next: Round of Saudi Arabia '24
Date: 7th-9th March 2024

[cmlean]

My thoughts...

For the first time in a few years, we had no cars fail to finish. With minimal incidents throughout the race, we could see just where all the teams are at the start of 2024. I do know that Carlos Sainz received the Driver of the Day award however I want to put Lance Stroll up there. Following being turned around in the first corner of the race, he made a spectacular recovery to finish in the points. Both he and Zhou Guanyu achieved more than was expected in my eyes.
Disappointment would have to go to Yuki Tsunoda having to give up his place to Daniel Ricciardo in the latter stages of the race while he himself was challenging for the pass.

Next weekend we are off to Saudi Arabia for round 2 of the championship. Will the final result be any different? For the win, probably not. For basically all other positions, we will have to wait and see just which team has strengths on a faster, more flowing circuit.